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A gathering of angels

Music hasn’t changed very much for me over the past 20 years or so. Notwithstanding my children playing hit music stations in the car all the time, if a song or an artist didn’t enter my consciousness between 1978 and about 1993, they aren’t getting in at all. This is why 80s music always strikes a chord (no pun intended) with me. The 80s, and a few years on either side of it, were when I finished grammar school, graduated high school, and included all but my last few months of college. That was the window for letting music into my life.

Tonight I saw three musical acts who made it into the musical window. In what is billed as the “Soundtrack of Summer” tour, I saw Don Felder of the Eagles, Foreigner, and Styx share the stage on a perfect night for an outdoor concert. I could get into each act individually, but it’s late and I’ll just say this: The music you hear in your youth (or, if you prefer, your formative years) will stay with you, and will–for better or for worse–be what you want to hear when you aren’t so young anymore. And so it was this evening.

Felder played Eagles standards like Hotel California and Life in the Fast Lane, Foreigner played Hot Blooded and Juke Box Hero and Urgent, and Styx played Come Sail Away, Blue Collar Man, and Too Much Time on my hands, among others. There were some quirks mixed in as well, but primarily it was classic rock played outdoors on a summer night. How does it get any better than that?